lcuy

Anyone else decided to stop flying Southwest? If they don't care about the safety of their crews and their passengers, I can't think of any reason to fly with them. United and Delta are at least making an effort to do something.

jubilada

I’m waiting to see how it plays out. I have lots of SW points.

Sassafrass

Since even vaccinated people are at some risk, and medical issues cause other people to be at even greater risk, traveling with any unvaccinated passengers or workers is a big safety issue. It is also allowing selfishness and greed and meanness to dominate over human health and the care of fellowman.

joannyc

Happy to say that I never fly them!

KTtravel

This is good to know. No Southwest flights for me!

Sassafrass

SW was my favorite domestic airlines for years. Not anymore. If companies refuse to enforce any restrictions, we can’t be safe. It makes me so angry. I am also tired of hearing people say, “You are vaccinated, so why should you be concerned? That is just a selfish refusal to acknowledge that there are health issues that prevent the vaccines from working properly. Some of these people also say, “I won’t live in fear. If you are so afraid, stay home.” That is also a refusal to have any concern for their fellow citizens. While I am venting about this, most of my relatives are fundamentalists who profess to follow Jesus and love everybody. Only as long as they are not inconvenienced.

bilboburgler

"out of the way"....."out of the way"....... "$ coming through"... "you puny humans must stay in your place"... "go get infected in my aluminium tubes"..."my money is more important than your health"

Couldn't make this up

Dukey1

When airlines actually say that nobody who isn't vaccinated will be allowed to fly such as Qantas reportedly has, then I'll actually believe other airlines are 'doing something' that actually matters, And even then there remain health risks. I have said before that the airlines themselves would be the forces most resistant to requiring vaccinations just as they resisted heightened security measures post-9/11.

kybourbon

I rarely fly Southwest. I have never been a fan or understood why people like them. There is one flight I take where they have a non-stop, but since the pandemic and their attitude of packing planes when other airlines weren't, I've quit using them for that flight.

HappyTrvlr

We have a large Southwest credit for flights they cancelled due to pandemic. I had thought we would use them on a future flight but now I want a refund!
Booking Christmas flights with United or AA.

jubilada

AA isn’t enforcing vaccines either. If they cancelled the flight the would have given you $ at the time so maybe they will now?

wtm003

I'm more concerned about Southwest's cancellations and staffing shortages than enforcing a mandate. We frequently fly SWA (companion pass) and have flown almost monthly since late last year. Our flight home from Portland was cancelled in June. It was a pain to get home. We returned home from Charlotte a couple of weeks ago - the same weekend SWA had a cancellation meltdown. We were originally booked nonstop on SWA, until they changed our flight and it was an 8 hour Charlotte-Buffalo-Austin-Denver flight. Fortunately, we cancelled and re-booked on American, because if we stayed with our original itinerary we would've have been stuck in Buffalo.

So, if you're the CEO of SWA, what do you do if you're already dealing with staffing shortages? Fire employees and cancel more flights? Even Delta has unvaccinated employees, but they're paying a healthcare premium, instead of being fired. I guess we'll have to wait and see if people actually stop flying SWA. Since about May every flight I've been on has been packed.

kybourbon

** Even Delta has unvaccinated employees, but they're paying a healthcare premium, instead of being fired. I guess we'll have to wait and see if people actually stop flying SWA.**

I quit flying them when they decided to quit blocking seats when most of the other airlines still were. AA didn't enforce masks during the pandemic (prior to vaccines). I quit flying them then (I was flying multiple flights per month when everything was shut down in 2020). They also started packing planes early like Southwest. They still have until Dec. 8 to get their employees vaxxed. I think Delta and a few other airlines are trying to let their employees reach that decision on their own by raising their healthcare premiums ($200 a month starting Nov. 1) and having them test, test, test. I also read that Delta will require unvaxxed employees to keep wearing masks. I will be surprised if Delta keeps employees that don't reach that decision by Dec. It's my understanding they put a policy in place back in the spring that all new hires must be vaxxed. By Dec. 8, they are banking most will be vaxxed.

wtm003

I saw an interview with the CEO of Delta on CNBC (I think) and I didn't get that impression about a December deadline, but I could be wrong. The policy of requiring new hires to be vaccinated makes sense.

kybourbon

**I saw an interview with the CEO of Delta on CNBC (I think) and I didn't get that impression about a December deadline, but I could be wrong.**

The Dec. 8 deadline is Biden's for businesses/contractors doing business with the government.

https://www.reuters.com/business/spi...-8-2021-10-06/

While this article doesn't mention United, I've seen ones that say they are mostly vaxxed.

Dukey1

We have flown several segments on American over the past 6 weeks. There are passengers rolling around airports wearing masks incorrectly and that included several American employees. Nobody approached them to correct them and i can understand why. Three and three seating is not exclusive to Southwest and every flight we have been on was pretty much full. Delta's CEO said that vaccination mandates are "a blunt instrument." I think there are a lot of people, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, who are "waiting it out."

HappyTrvlr

Originally we started flying Southwest years ago because they always were on time unlike their competitors and offered refunds. Flexibility. Then we moved to Tucson and they offered the most flights out of and into there. Disappointed in them.

obxgirl

Right. And it is a blunt instrument, as mentioned. Too bad it was required.

Contracts across the federal government have been and are being amended to include the vaccine mandate. After December 8, new or augmented contracts will require personnel to be vaccinated on the first day of performance. Includes contractors working remotely even from home.

The feds are Southwest's single largest customer.

I have had plenty of decent flights on Southwest. However their 2021 performance, especially since summer, has been a real sh!tshow. I wouldn't go near them now except in an emergency.

jubilada

Same here. But I’m not actually sure that employees who are paying more for their health insurance are better to be around.

mlgb

I don't like Southwest but they have most of the flights out of Long Beach now, so it's more convenient. Flying on Delta means transferring via Salt Lake City. I hate hate hate AA . It's a tossup between managing Southwest or going to LAX, which is just as bad!

I was sorry when Alaska pulled out, as did Jet Blue. Jet Blue wanted to build a customs facility and the City Council said no.